In Patent Trolls Filed Hundreds of Lawsuits to Beat December 1 Deadline, Mr. Joe Mullin states the amendment to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure effective December 1, 2015 triggered a US patent litigation spike in late-November 2015. He attributes the spike, i.e., 790 filings, to those seeking to avoid unfavorable amendments such as the heightened standard for a patent infringement complaint and elimination of FRCP Form 18.
Mr. Mullin's observations are not that surprising given a good lawyer should file a lawsuit before the law changes adversely to a client.
But what is less clear is why he talks about "patent trolls" filing hundreds of lawsuits. Why are they trolls? He explains "with the exception of pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, all the companies appear to be patent-holding shell companies." He might be right, but the danger is labeling a company a patent troll, because they have a business of licensing patents. Can't say I understand all of his views, but it appears the assumption is patent licensing by a non-practicing entity is a suspect category of business if you are an LLC and/or have an obscure name.
Copyright © 2015 Robert Moll. All rights reserved.
Showing posts with label Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Show all posts
Friday, December 4, 2015
Thursday, November 5, 2015
Supreme Court - Amended Federal Rules of Civil Procedure - Effective December 1, 2015
The amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) become effective on December 1. The amendments will impact non-practicing patent owners who are used to filing form patent infringement complaints with little pre-filing research and leveraging the fact they have little to produce in discovery compared to the defendants.
The amendments eliminate the patent infringement form, and require patent owners state additional facts in support of infringement, and in some cases file claim charts.
The amendments will also reduce the scope of discovery to "any non-privileged matter that is relevant to any party’s claim or defense and proportional to the needs of the case, considering the importance of the issues at stake in the action, the amount in controversy, the parties’ relative access to relevant information, the parties’ resources, the importance of the discovery in resolving the issues, and whether the burden or expense of the proposed discovery outweighs its likely benefit."
Copyright © 2015 Robert Moll. All rights reserved.
The amendments eliminate the patent infringement form, and require patent owners state additional facts in support of infringement, and in some cases file claim charts.
The amendments will also reduce the scope of discovery to "any non-privileged matter that is relevant to any party’s claim or defense and proportional to the needs of the case, considering the importance of the issues at stake in the action, the amount in controversy, the parties’ relative access to relevant information, the parties’ resources, the importance of the discovery in resolving the issues, and whether the burden or expense of the proposed discovery outweighs its likely benefit."
Copyright © 2015 Robert Moll. All rights reserved.
Saturday, May 9, 2015
Supreme Court - Amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure - Reducing Litigation Costs
Chief Justice Roberts of the United States Supreme Court submitted amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to Congress on April 29. The amendments most likely to impact US patent litigation are as follows:
1. Rule 26 is amended so that it no longer permits discovery of any information that may reasonably lead to the discovery of admissible evidence. Further, discovery must be proportional to the needs of the case. This sounds like a helpful change, but it's hard to predict if this will reduce the discovery costs in patent litigation.
2. Rule 84 is deleted, including Form 18, the standard patent infringement complaint form. This may promote greater specificity in the patent infringement complaint, which is helpful.
Unless Congress objects the amendments become effective on December 1, 2015. I expect lobbyist to face an uphill battle if they challenge these two amendments given they are intended to make litigation less costly.
Copyright © 2015 Robert Moll. All rights reserved.
1. Rule 26 is amended so that it no longer permits discovery of any information that may reasonably lead to the discovery of admissible evidence. Further, discovery must be proportional to the needs of the case. This sounds like a helpful change, but it's hard to predict if this will reduce the discovery costs in patent litigation.
2. Rule 84 is deleted, including Form 18, the standard patent infringement complaint form. This may promote greater specificity in the patent infringement complaint, which is helpful.
Unless Congress objects the amendments become effective on December 1, 2015. I expect lobbyist to face an uphill battle if they challenge these two amendments given they are intended to make litigation less costly.
Copyright © 2015 Robert Moll. All rights reserved.
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